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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ering quince are beginning to open. From that time to 

 the middle or the last week of May, the flowering trees 

 sometimes buzz with their wings, for although they are 

 not at all gregarious, a tree like a horse-chestnut at the 

 height of its season may attract them in great numbers. 



About the last of May, nesting begins and the dainty 

 little cottony structure is saddled on the branch of an 

 apple or other tree from 15 to 25 feet from the ground. 

 The outside is covered with lichens which makes it very 

 difhcult to discover. Indeed were it not for the alarm 

 of the mother bird and the intrepid way in which she 

 darts at one's head when in the vicinity of the nest, it 

 would seldom be found. No bird or animal is allowed 

 to approach within a certain radius of the nest without 

 being attacked. Be it one of its own kind or one of the 

 largest hawks, it is pursued with the same courage. 



The male is at first quite attentive but after the eggs 

 are laid he disappears and never assists in the incubation 



is particularly fond of red flowers and if a person wears 

 bright colors in the field, they often flash up to examine 

 them. 



Watching the chimney swifts as they dart back and 



PLANT TRUMPET CREEPERS AND HAVE HUMMING BIRDS 



Their tiny wings move so fast that they make a humming sound, and 

 the camera scarcely shows them. 



or care of the young. Neglecting his responsibilities 

 he selects some favored locality where there are flowers 

 and when not making the rounds, sits quietly on a dead 

 branch or telegraph wire preening his feathers. 



The eggs hatch after two weeks of care and the young 

 remain in the nest for about three weeks. When first 

 hatched, they are blind and naked and their bills are 

 very short. It is at this stage that one can more easily 

 recognize their relationship to the swifts that are so very 

 different in adult life. 



Of the 17 other species of humming-birds reaching 

 the United States, only seven advance beyond the states 

 bordering Mexico. The best known uf these is the rufous 

 humming-bird, found in summer from California to 

 Alaska, especially in the mountains. It is reddish brown 

 in color, the male having a fiery red throat patch that 

 gleams orange and yellowish green in some lights. It 



A SUSPENDED CRADLE 



This South American humming-bird chose a beautiful location for his 

 nest, hanging it on the under side of a front of a tree fern and decorating 

 the outside with bits of moss. These birds are confined to the New World, 

 and are found in greatest numbers in Colombia and Ecuador. 



forth over the house tops, or circle in dark clouds before 

 descending some disused chimney, one never suspects 

 their relationship to the humming-bird. Even close in- 



JUST FROM THE NEST 



A blade of timothy suffices to support the weight of this tiny fledgling, 

 a dainty ruby-throated humming-bird. 



spection fails to reveal much similarity except in the 

 shape of the long narrow wings and the tiny feet. Never- 



